Chapter 402 The Fourth Turn of the Emperor

Of course, the stone tortoise wouldn't answer Ji An's question; if it did, Ji An would probably be scared half to death.

At this moment, he noticed that the Bagua patterns on the tortoise shell were periodically flashing with spiritual light, as if it were breathing.

The space began to change; the frequency of lightning and thunder outside the gray fog decreased, and the gale also subsided.

The yellow sand on the ground seemed to come alive, and a spring appeared, flowing out murky water.

However, the spring quickly disappeared into the sea of ​​sand, and then Ji An felt a dizzying sensation as his consciousness returned to his body.

His heart pounded like a drum being struck by a giant hammer. Space, lightning—all of this indicated that the gourd stone was very likely the core of the world!

'No, if it's the core of the world, why would it be in the hands of a few disciples of the Earthly Fiend Sect? If it truly is the core of the world, wouldn't that old monster, the Netherworld True Monarch, have discovered it?'

As the initial elation subsided, Ji An couldn't understand the reason behind it all.

He extended his divine sense into the gourd-shaped stone, only to find it still completely dark and empty.

Ji An couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Without the stone tortoise, he would have had no chance of entering it on his own and discovering its interior space.

He gained a new understanding of the stone tortoise's power. 'Little brat, how much more skill do you have that you haven't revealed yet!'

He immediately looked inward at his dantian and saw that the stone tortoise was still safely inside, motionless.

His mind connected with the stone tortoise, and lines of writing appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness like ink paintings. He was able to roughly understand what had happened by observing the changes in his spiritual energy values.

[Master: Ji An]

[Taoist Rhyme: 0]

[Inspiration: 0]

"Holy crap, what's going on?!"

Ji An was dumbfounded. He originally thought that the stone turtle could absorb spiritual energy, but he got nothing and even lost a lot. Both his Daoist charm and spiritual energy were reduced to zero.

If he had known it would turn out this way, he would have definitely used his ingenuity to improve his various escape techniques.

Unfortunately, one can't know things only if they happen in life, he sighed helplessly.

At this moment, Ji An vaguely understood that this space was probably incomplete, so the stone turtle used resources to repair its Great Dao Laws.

'I wonder how long it will take to stabilize this space and make it truly usable for me!'

'Can living creatures be placed inside?'

His thoughts drifted off, and after a moment he suddenly shook his head.

Now is not the time to think about these things; right now, we must earnestly fulfill our responsibility to protect others.

Two hours later, the sky was filled with stars, illuminating the deep night.

Ji An and his companion left the cave and rode on clouds to search the canyon, hoping to find a place to stay.

They found a sheltered ravine in the steep mountains and landed there.

Searching at night is too difficult, and we don't know the situation here. We'll look for a more suitable place to stay tomorrow.

At midnight, howling winds emanated from countless underground caves, sounding like the wailing of hundreds of living beings, as a chilling aura spread from all directions.

Ji An noticed that a layer of white frost had formed on the rocks.

The gentle breeze blew for about an hour before gradually dissipating. Han Yan let out a long sigh and said:

"The sound was terrifying. I felt my mind shake and fear seeped into my body through my pores with the cold wind."

As the wind howled, she was jolted awake from her meditation, a sense of unease rising in her heart.

Ji An nodded slightly, "This wind is indeed strange, it seems to have the ability to shake the soul."

However, when I focused my divine sense to fight against it, I felt it actually had the effect of strengthening my soul.

Han Yan was surprised, "Junior brother, that's a great idea. Turning tribulations into resources, I admire you."

As the two were talking, they suddenly felt a whooshing sound overhead. Ji An looked up and saw a bat the size of a millstone baring its teeth and lunging at them.

He sensed that this was a demonic beast at the late stage of Qi Refining, and couldn't help but sneer, instinctively activating the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword.

A flash of silver light, and the bat-like monster's head and neck were separated. The wound withered quickly as if burned, without any blood flowing out.

After this little incident, the two of them each released their golden-feathered eagles to guard them, and they did not encounter any more ignorant monsters.

At dawn, sunlight shines into the towering mountains, bathing them in a golden glow.

Ji An and the other person were already standing on the top of a mountain peak, ready to absorb the five elements of energy.

After a moment, Han Yan smiled and said:

"I consume five strands of qi, what about you, junior brother?"

"Haha, I consume seven strands of qi."

"That's great. A single mountain peak can provide us with so much Earth Qi. The efficiency of absorbing Qi is about to improve."

By the way, I don't know how much Five Elements Qi you can synthesize in a day, junior brother. Could you tell me?

Han Yan needed to assess the gap between herself and her opponent; the battle a few days ago had made her acutely aware of her own weakness.

"Eighteen strands".

Ji An gave a rather conservative figure: his limit was twenty-two strands. If he could only synthesize eighteen strands, he could still engage in high-intensity combat for a while.

Being in the wild is different from staying in the sect; you have to maintain a certain level of physical condition to deal with unexpected situations.

Upon hearing this answer, Han Yan remained silent. Consuming Qi consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, and her spiritual energy could only synthesize fourteen strands of Wood-type Qi.

To maintain her combat readiness, she can synthesize a maximum of twelve strands per day.

Even if you're only six strands apart from your partner every day, the difference can become huge over time.

"Looks like I'm dragging my junior brother down."

Han Yan's smile was somewhat unnatural. The two of them traveled together, and even if the other party's Earth Element Divine Mansion was at its core perfection, he would not abandon her and return to the sect alone.

Within the sect, she was a respected alchemist, never imagining she would become a burden outside.

"Haha, Senior Sister, what are you saying? Cultivators have different talents. Senior Sister's alchemy ability is second to none in the sect, while I am just naturally stronger in spirit."

Ji An comforted him, vaguely understanding the disappointment in the other person's heart, and then changed the subject:

"Senior sister, let's find another mountain to absorb the energy of the Earth element."

"Okay," Han Yan replied, and the two rode away on a cloud.

Ji An consumed two more strands of Qi, and the two began searching for a deep valley. After consuming the Qi of Earth, the Earth and Earth elements combined, and strands of Earth Qi were absorbed by the core of the Divine Palace.

Han Yan looked up and could only see a narrow strip of sky, with only a corner of the sun vaguely visible. She chuckled softly:

"At this moment, I suddenly feel like a frog at the bottom of a well looking at the sun in the sky, and I am shocked by my own insignificance."

“One’s state of mind is greatly influenced by one’s environment. When my senior sister was riding on the clouds and looking down at the mountains, she would not have felt this way.”

"Haha, what you say is very true, junior brother. At that time, I felt as if grasping the clouds and the moon was nothing to me."

Ji An chuckled a few times in agreement and said:

"This mountain range is called Qianren Mountain, as you can see from its numerous peaks."

Judging from the concentration of spiritual energy, the spiritual veins here are only of the second-tier middle grade. Even if there are some demonic beasts, they are only at the first or second stage of the Origin Realm.

With so many mountains and valleys, there is enough for us to absorb the five elements of energy here.

"How about we survey the mountains today, scout out their locations, and plan a route for gathering qi?"

“Alright, but I don’t want to camp out in these mountains again today.”

Why don't we find a place outside, build a hut, and ride the clouds into the mountains at dawn to breathe in the fresh air, and return home whistling in the wind at dusk? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

The sound of ghosts wailing in the mountains and caves at night always gave Han Yan the creeps.

Ji An frowned slightly and said:

"If you build a hut and live outside, you will inevitably run into passing monks."

Although this place is tens of thousands of miles away from the territory of the Earthly Fiend Sect, it wouldn't be good to encounter Earthly Fiend Sect cultivators by chance.

In his view, it's better to avoid trouble and focus on strengthening the Earth God Palace in these vast mountains.

Those Earthly Fiend Sect cultivators actually ambushed them; perhaps they possessed undetectable markings or techniques on their bodies.

Upon hearing the name "Earthly Fiends Sect," Han Yan's expression immediately became much more serious, and she nodded solemnly.

“Junior brother’s words make sense. How about we hide in the mountains for two years, and then find a secluded place outside?”

Ji An smiled wryly; her senior sister still felt reluctant to spend the night deep in the mountains.

He patted the Dongxu stone pendant below his collarbone and said:

"Senior sister, before leaving the sect, I commissioned a miniature defensive array that can cover an area of ​​five zhang in radius."

The volume of external sounds received by the array can be adjusted using the array plate, allowing us to find a suitable location along the energy-gathering path to carve out a cave.

In this way, the sound of the underground wind howling at midnight will be greatly blocked.

“Junior brother’s preparations are truly thorough; let’s do it this way.”

Two auspicious crimson clouds soared into the sky, galloping across thousands of mountains and valleys.

Time passes unnoticed in the mountains, and years slip by unnoticed as the cold winter ends; ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Deep in the valley, Ji An pursed his lips like a tube, curled his tongue slightly upward, and made a "whoosh" sound.

Once the turbid qi in the spleen is expelled, the body will instinctively and naturally inhale.

A wisp of Earth Qi was swallowed into the mouth and naturally flowed down the Immortal Meridian into the Spleen.

The Earth elements (戊土 and 己土) harmonize and merge into one, with the illusory Earth element's core, a vibrant yellow, suddenly expanding and merging with the spleen.

At the same time, Ji An's body instinctively opened its mouth, swallowing the surrounding spiritual energy like a whale sucking in water. A powerful spiritual pressure exploded outwards in all directions, creating a strong wind like a tide.

A drop of yellow earth-elemental spiritual liquid was generated in the spleen and flowed into the dantian along the immortal meridian.

The crystal-clear spiritual liquid fell, landing precisely in the primordial fire.

It passed through the black spiritual flames, then through the silver-white spiritual flames, and when it entered the third layer of spiritual flames, it suddenly exploded, and the yellow flames immediately grew larger.

The light shimmered, and a dazzling array of colors filled the dantian.

Han Yan, who was absorbing Qi, was startled awake by the emanating spiritual pressure and covered her cherry-like mouth with her hand.

A breakthrough?!

Joy welled up in her heart, and from then on, she had a companion who was at the fourth stage of the Chaoyuan realm.

As a cultivator's cultivation level increases, the strength of their soul will also increase, the total amount of mana stored in their body will increase significantly, and the quality of the mana will also improve to a certain extent.

The resulting improvement is comprehensive, which is why the higher a cultivator's level, the more overwhelming a small difference in cultivation realm can be forcing their opponent to breathe.

Starting from the Golden Core stage, this phenomenon becomes more obvious. By the time you reach the Nascent Soul stage, a difference of one small realm means complete and utter domination, and the gap can only be bridged by using various external means.

(End of this chapter)